telwink

I see lots of wonderful photographs of the very early days of Houston ... what is generally available on various Houston photography archives both in person (Houston Public Library's photo archive, Story Sloane, etc) and digitally (any number of excellent websites & digital archives). What I would love to see more of, are various scenes around Houston in the 1980s ~ 1990s. I thought of this while driving on "Upper Kirby" over the weekend, as I was explaining to my girlfriend (who recently moved to Houston) what Kirby looked like in the late 80s/early 90s. I've lived here since 1987, so I'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about. Anyhow, as I tried to explain the 80s/early 90s scene to her, I could hardly remember it myself! I think it would be nearly unrecognizable to see a 30 year old photo of it. It would be fun to see some photographs of Westheimer, the Galleria, Rice Village, various movie theaters and restaurants (interiors or exteriors), during the early days of Houston's *rebirth* since the 80s crash, and onward through the 90s. This may be too broad an idea to get off the ground, but I figured it would be worth a shot. As I'll be going home to visit my family for the holiday weekend coming up, I'll try to kick this off myself by going through some older family photo albums to see if there are any photos of interest. If there are, I'll digitize them by any means necessary and attach them to the thread. I encourage you to do the same! Ben

Thanks a lot Highway6, and thanks HAIF for the potd! I remember this place like it was in its prime last week. I was pretty young at the time, so this place just completely nailed my demographic. Going here when it was really nice, was a HUGE treat. I guess in the mid 80s, this part of town was a newer, nicer suburbia than it is now. You can still walk through the place now - but man - it is a total dump compared to what it used to be like. It just seems really run down by a lack of maintenance and upkeep. Most of the inside is now closed. You can't go upstairs at all anymore. It's kind of sad to see it go, but more than anything I just find it very interesting that you can actually go inside it still and rekindle old memories of what it's glory days were like.

I was hoping maybe some folks who live/have lived in the Post Rice lofts would chime in on these questions. I've lived in the downtown area for the past couple years, but I'm thinking about moving into the Post Rice Lofts to be within walking distance from work. I'm in my mid 20s, and am very privy to the party nature of this party of downtown, and of the Lofts themselves, given the clientele they likely attract. I'm okay with this to a certain degree, but I'd like to know two things from folks who might know from experience. I've toured the units themselves, and they seem decent. Nothing fancy, the price tag is for the location. I was out on Main Street this past Saturday night and it was absolutely, positively party-city. I mean loud. People shouting, cars banging bass, huge lines to get into the clubs, club music itself. This is all well and good, but I just can't imagine this wouldn't be loud as hell if you live in the building. So my questions are: 1. How is the sound proofing from <excessive> street noise such as partying? I know there will be some street noise; such is living downtown. But I want to know if the Friday/Saturday night madness becomes cumbersome. 2. How is the sound proofing from unit to unit? Any other general comments about the experience of either being in, or living in the place are welcome. I've read all the comments on apartmentratings.com, and have looked at a 500-something sqft 1br unit on the 6th floor of the building, which I'm considering leasing. Thanks much in advance!

I was all of about 7 years old. Do me a favor and school me on what percentage of a memory needs to be crystal clear in order to consider it of personal value.

Many a Houstonian has memories of the Astrodome. For some of us, it was a love with our sports franchises. For others, it represented an era in which Houston exploded onto the national map, destiend to grow into the megatropolis that Houston is today. The purpose of this thread is for people to share their memories of the Astrodome. I was looking at old photos of it recently, and saw a photo of the hot dog stand with the yellow and orange painted lines around it. I remember the Texas emblems on the aisle seats that listed the rows. I remember people walking around, smoking cigarettes, and the whole dome had this rustic, small town in a huge stadium feel to it. Now here's a real gem for me - I have vague memories of an 80s videogame arcade inside the Astrodome, and as I recall it was near the outfield, like right field or something. Does anybody remember anything about this arcade? Lately I've had a lot of nostalgia about the Astrodome. I suppose that's because its fate is in limbo right now :/ Anyhow, any memories of this arcade or about the Astrodome in general would be appreciated. In case you stumbled into this thread and don't know anything about the Arcade that was located in the outfield, check out this article I found about Cigarette Haze Control in the Astrodome: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5PR...ag=artBody;col1 This is a somewhat scatterbrained Astrodome thread, but any nostalgia would be appreciated.

Hey Boris~~! Great photos! I haven't been here yet, but these are excellent shots of the Cathedral. Thanks for posting.

Check out this website of some kind of scavenger hunt I found from 1991 Houston Galleria ... http://www.thehunt.org/1991/hunttask.htm "Walk into Sheer Insanity, and say at least seven words beginning with "Z."" "Enter The Fun Shop with your hand out of sight, and ask them if they've sold your severed fingers yet, because you want them back." "Go to Petland and ask, "How much is that doggie in the window?"" Silly find, but its got some interesting store names on it that I'd forgotten or otherwise were behind many cobwebs.

LOL Sheer Insanity !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAAH YES I remember that one now. That's hilarious. THANK YOU HAHA. I think the smaller one in Galleria I was called The Fun Shop, which someone established earlier in this thread. I can't thank everyone enough for the great memories and information. This has been a REAL trip down memory lane. Lovin' it. Dude it is all good! Happy to have the thread going like this - its already been a gold mine for the topic of interest.

Yah, I'd never heard anything about the gap being exotic, but then I don't know - I'm relatively young. I do remember when Banana Republic sold safari clothes in the 80s, which was brought up in earlier posts, but I'd be curious to hear about the Gap before my time.

I had no idea Nan's originated in the Galleria! I spent quite a bit of time at Nan's growing up, but see - I grew up in the 80s and 90s - so I spent time at Nan's Comics & Games on 59 @ Shepherd. Thanks for the info!

Was Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor the store in the background of the photo Pumapayam posted? The place with that coin-op merry go-round?

Those are some great memories, isuredid. My Galleria 80s were spent at a pretty young age. I'm about the same age as Pumapayam is on the left side of that photo, so I never got into the mall rat culture that must have been this mall's nostalgic glory days. But I still remember a lot of these things, even if observed from gradeschool eyes. Yep. I remember that stuff. I remember how the store front window panes & railings in the mall were that brown hollow aluminum material, and so were the ashtray/trashcan things bolted to the railings about every 50 feet.

Oh man this is great! I'd love it if you could scan more and post them. This is exactly the type of thing I was looking for. You know, I'd forgotten about those white globe-like lights. I also miss the carpeting and how it made it a quiet place to stroll around in. If there's any way you could scan more of these, that would be awesome. Also, the photos of Town & Country mall would be solid platinum when it comes to HAIF fodder. I know both of these sets of photos would make tremendously appreciated threads. Thanks a million for posting this.

Oh jeez yeah! The pet shop!!! I had completely forgotten about that place. It had a white and blue interior, with cages all over the place. Dogs, cats, birds, a ferret cage, you name it. That memory would have been lost to history had you not brought it up.